D O K U M E N T I E R T :

General Assembly Suspends Libya from Human Rights Council

Hopes of Libyan People ‘Must not be Dashed’ Assembly President Says,
As Secretary-General Voices ‘Grave Concern’ at Ongoing Violence against Civilians **

In an unprecedented move today, the United Nations General Assembly suspended Libya’s membership in the Human Rights Council, the Organization’s pre-eminent human rights body, expressing its deep concern about the situation in that country in the wake of Muammar Al-Qadhafi’s violent crackdown on anti-Government protestors.

Adopting a consensus resolution, the Assembly acted on the 25 February recommendation by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, which had urged the suspension in a resolution of its own. The Assembly, which created the Council five years ago, was charged with taking that action, and this afternoon’s decision marked the first time a sitting member was removed from the body. The Assembly also agreed that it would “review the matter as appropriate”.

“The world has spoken with one voice: we demand an immediate end to the violence against civilians and full respect for their fundamental human rights, including those of peaceful assembly and free speech,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his address to the Assembly. He welcomed the recommendation of the Human Rights Council to suspend Libya’s membership “so long as the violence continued”, he added.

Mr. Ban also commended the Security Council’s decision over the weekend to refer the situation in Libya to the International Criminal Court, and called for the urgent dispatching of an independent international commission of inquiry to investigate alleged violations of international human rights in the country, in line with the Human Rights Council’s recommendation. (For coverage of the Security Council meeting, see Press Release SC/10187.)

There were reports that Government forces had fired indiscriminately on peaceful protesters in Libya and had bombed military bases in the east of the country, said Mr. Ban as he briefed the Assembly on the situation as it stood today. There were also reports of ongoing and serious clashes between Government forces and armed opponents in the west. “In these difficult and unpredictable circumstances”, he said, it was critical that the international community remained united.

“The winds of change are sweeping the Middle East and North Africa,” added the Secretary-General. The United Nations stood ready to assist in every way possible as the people of Libya demanded new rights and freedoms, he said.

General Assembly President Joseph Deiss agreed, emphasizing the importance of a strong Human Rights Council whose members were committed to strengthening the protection and promotion of fundamental rights — including by upholding the highest standards and by “proscribing double standards”.

As the Security Council and the Human Rights Council had taken steps to address the situation, he said, it was time for the Assembly to “do its part” in ensuring that fundamental rights were respected and that violations were punished. It was also necessary to show unity and resolve in the Assembly’s determination to promote the fundamental values of the United Nations Charter. The expectations of the men and women that were “hoping and struggling to have their rights respected” must not be dashed, he declared.

Taking the floor after adopting the resolution, delegation after delegation called for an end to the bloodshed in Libya and expressed solidarity with its people, especially since the crisis had been sparked by anti-Government protests that had, in the opening days, largely been peaceful. Many also emphasized their support for the extraordinary decision to suspend Libya from the Human Rights Council.

The representative of New Zealand echoed the expression by many delegations of condolence to the families of the victims of Libya’s violent clashes. “No regime has the right to turn its own country and the lives of its own people into a living hell,” he said, adding the Libya had grossly abused the trust placed in it by the Human Rights Council when it had been granted membership.

The representative of the Philippines said his delegation was deeply concerned about the events in Libya, and that the international community must stand united to support its people. “The United Nations and the international community have an inescapable responsibility to extend whatever assistance it can muster to the Libyan people during this time of emergency and cataclysmic changes,” he said.

Costa Rica’s representative supported Libya’s suspension from the Human Rights Council, and said the Assembly’s “historical decision” was in full compliance with international law and responsibility of all United Nations Members to protect lives and promote fundamental rights. He reminded the Assembly, however, that the Libyan Government had already been “a voracious, repressive machine” when it had been elected to the Council in 2010. The lesson to be learned from the events of the past two weeks was the importance of improving the parameters of Council integration to prevent such situations from developing.

Some delegations stressed that the suspension was an extreme measure required by an extraordinary situation. The representative of Lebanon, introducing the draft resolution, underlined that the measure was both “exceptional and temporary”, and that Libya’s status would be restored “in due time”. He added that he hoped that time would come very soon.

Meanwhile, others expressed concern that the resolution might be misused. In that vein, Bolivia’s representative stressed that it was critical that the consensus reached today not be used to promote “unjustified interventions” against sovereign States, and warned against the selective application of any resolutions against States with a “different orientation” from the major Powers. Further on that note, Venezuela’s representative said that a decision like the one adopted by the Assembly today could only take place following a credible investigation. As such, he believed the resolution was premature, since Member States had yet to receive the results from the Human Rights Council’s independent inquiry into the events in Libya.

In other business, the General Assembly took note of documents A/65/691/Add.2‑6, in which the Secretary-General informed the President of the General Assembly that, since his communication contained in document A/65/691/Add.1, Nepal, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tonga had made the necessary payments to reduce their arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter.